Severe floods cause havoc

Two dead, one missing, several displaced

By Yohan Perera and Athula Bandara   

At least two people have died while one person has gone missing as a result of severe floods caused by torrential rains that were experienced countrywide over the weekend, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said yesterday.   

Deaths have been reported from Monaragala, Kandy and Badulla Districts while six persons have been injured in Badulla District.   
Some 49 houses have been destroyed while 1,017 have been partly damaged due to storm like rains and floods.   

Around 51,000 people belonging to 14,963 families in 12 Districts including Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Hambantota, Matale, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Batticaloa, Ampara, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa has been affected by the adverse weather conditions as per data put out by DMC.   

DMC Spokesman Pradeep Kodippili said around 100 people who were trapped in the floods have been rescued by Army, Air Force, Navy and the Police.   
Department of Meteorology forecast heavy rains which could go up to 100mm in the Central North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces in the coming days.   

Many tanks in Anuradhapura District have begun to spill as a result of the torrential rains being experienced in Rajarata area due to the unfavourable weather conditions.   
Among them, the emergency spill gates of the tanks such as Kala Wewa, Rajanganaya, Nachchaduwa and Mahakanadarawa tanks have been opened due to the increase of water level in these tanks.   

Accordingly, steps have been taken to open the two emergency spill gates of Kala Wewa up to 18 feet and thereby to release 33,000 cubic feet of excess water to Kala Oya. But, the officers in charge of Mahaweli Authority said that the volume of water is being increasing as a result of the receipt of more rain water to the tank than that is released out of the tank. It is said that a quantity of water (43,000 cubic feet of water is received by the tank from the canals such as Dambulu Oya).   
Therefore, the officers said that they are always vigilant about the situation in Kala Wewa.   

In the meantime, several families have been displaced due to submerging the low-lying areas in the Divisional Secretariats of Talawa, Thambuttegama, Galnewa and Ipalogama which are located downstream of Kala Wewa as a result of collecting the water that spills from Kala Wewa to Kala Oya.   

In addition, several roads including Aukana - Kala Wewa Road and Bulnewa - Endagala Road have gone under water disrupting the transport on these roads. Steps have been taken by the Divisional Secretaries to provide facilities for the displaced persons to stay in public places such as schools etc. 

 
By this time, there were more than 500 families who are displaced in the Anuradhapura District according to Deshapriya Bandara, Assistant Director of the Anuradhapura District Disaster Management Centre.   
He said that the cooked meals are being supplied to the people who have been affected with the intervention of the Divisional Secretaries.     

• Around 100 people who were trapped in the floods have been rescued